Volunteering at the animal shelter! A weekend retreat at a holistic center! Attending discourses by a meditation guru! Going all natural with kale and asparagus salad! Wondering what these are? This is the line-up of conversations between Delhi’s socially fluent individuals. Relationships and friendships are no longer based on how much one earns but on if they are ticking the right social status boxes which includes the right gym, the right Saturday night clubbing sessions followed by a quiet luncheon on a glass of sangria.
Kanika Khosla, psychologist, says, “ It’s no longer important what mobiles you are carrying or which car you are travelling by as they are easily available on EMIs. What is important is what you are doing after your 9 to 5pm job. Hitting that swanky gym followed by a quick drink at the club is a symbol which ups your social standing.”
For author Geeta Ramakrishnan, social fluency is an aspect that strongly influences the way your peers control your behaviour. It affects how you project your image in society and want to be perceived.
She says, “The branded clothes you use, the restaurants and clubs you are seen visiting, the social friends you keep. It starts giving you an air of superiority and confidence, even if superficial.”
But will it lead to strong and lasting friendships, that requires you to be open to your true self? Kanika feels that the environment in which people grow up inscribes itself deeply into their identity. She says, “A series of lockdowns and quarantines has made us realise that social status is not everything. That money cannot give you happiness. That money is simply a means to an end. We have finally had the time to sit and realise that we’d rather spend time with our family or a friend or two rather than collect a heap of social currency.”
{{/usCountry}}But will it lead to strong and lasting friendships, that requires you to be open to your true self? Kanika feels that the environment in which people grow up inscribes itself deeply into their identity. She says, “A series of lockdowns and quarantines has made us realise that social status is not everything. That money cannot give you happiness. That money is simply a means to an end. We have finally had the time to sit and realise that we’d rather spend time with our family or a friend or two rather than collect a heap of social currency.”
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